America Records Lowest Birth Rates in 30 Years

In 2017, the United States recorded its lowest birth rate in 30 years. Population growth was the second lowest in 79 years, only slightly higher than 2013. Bloomberg reports:

The number of births in the U.S. declined for the third year in a row in 2017 to 3,853,472, the lowest level since 1987, the National Center for Health Statistics reported Thursday.

Births were down 2 percent, or 92,403, from 2016. The birth rate for women aged 15 to 39 declined from 2016 to 2017 but rose in that same time period for those aged 40 to 44.

Teenage birth rates fell 7 percent from 2016 to a record low for this age group. The rate has declined by nearly 8 percent per year over the last decade. Fewer than 200,000 children are now born to women aged 15 to 19, down 56 percent from 444,899 such births in 2007. Fewer than 2,000 births were to mothers aged 10 to 14.